Mark of Mastery
by forevermagik13
Summary: Takes place in my AtP universe during 'Remnants.' This is the more detailed version of the Mark of Mastery test for Kairi, Roxas, Xion, Ven, and Terra. There will be some allusions to what's going on with Xehanort as well. Enjoy!
1. Aqua

**Author's Note:** So, this is my take on the Mark of Mastery for the up-and-coming Keyblade Masters. This takes place inside _Remnants_ , but can, for the most part, stand alone. For the 24 chapters that this is, 20 of them follow the Mark of Masteries for Kairi, Roxas, Xion, Ven, and Terra. This first chapter here is from Aqua's POV and means all you need to know is that Aqua and Master Yen Sid are talking. There are three more chapters, spread throughout this fic that do require knowledge of what's going on in _Remnants_ to fully appreciate them.

All that said, enjoy!

* * *

"Master Yen Sid," Aqua said. "Don't you think that Sora and Riku should be in on this decision?"

"It has always traditionally been two Masters," Master Yen Sid said, his voice not even the slightest bit contemplative.

"Aren't we changing a lot of things, though?" Aqua asked.

"What do you think of the potential Masters?"

"I think they all have what it takes, if you ask me," Aqua replied simply. "Even Terra has managed to not succumb to the darkness, but to choose when to use it."

"Yes, I do believe you are correct."

"Roxas and Xion have obviously been training," Aqua added. "Not to say that Ven and Kairi haven't. I really think you might want to get Riku or Sora's opinion as far as Ven and Terra go. I've been working personally with them and…"

"Master Eraqus worked personally with you," Master Yen Sid pointed out.

Aqua stopped for a second. Master Yen Sid was right.

"I suppose he did," she murmured.

Master Yen Sid let her muse for a few moments before prodding her again. "Do you truly believe all of them are deserving of the title 'Master'?"

"Yes," Aqua said. "I truly do."

"We will see what this last stage shows us."


	2. Kairi

Kairi woke up on the Islands. She didn't remember falling asleep. But it must have been something Yen Sid had done.

But, she was on the Islands. Or something that looked like the Islands. What made her second-guess herself was that everything was quiet. Sure, she could hear the sea breeze and the waves lapping up on the sand. But there were no calls of the fisherman, no clanking of bells on the boats and on the harbor. Nothing.

So she wasn't really on the Islands. And, why should she be? Last she could remember, she was taking her Mark of Mastery exam. This was probably just another part.

Deciding she wasn't going to think about how many times she'd woken up on the shores of Destiny Islands, she figured instead she'd make her way to the play Island. Everything of interest always happened there.

Kairi barely had to look over at them before she was standing on the dock over there. She took one step forward and was walking on wood planks. She looked around, trying to get some sense of what she needed to be doing.

There! Sora and Riku were over at the Paopu tree. Kairi waved at them and started running over.


	3. Roxas

Roxas found himself in Twilight Town. He could hear the sounds of the trains in the distance. What was he doing here? He had been in Traverse Town, taking the Mark of Mastery…

Oh, that was probably it. Master Yen Sid probably sent him here as part of the test. But only him? And how was anyone supposed to keep an eye on him if he was here by himself?

Figuring he wasn't just there to stand around, he started walking. Habit took him in the direction of the ice cream shop. But, was it just him, or did he get there faster than it usually took him? Nothing else seemed really out of place. Twilight Town always had this lazy feel to it.

No real matter, he had probably just been lost in thought. He shook his head to clear it and crossed the last stretch before arriving at the ice cream shop. A familiar face waited for him when he got there.

"Hey, Xion!" Roxas said, his mouth breaking out into a grin at the sight of her. "I see Master Yen Sid sent you here, too!"

Xion turned around, and she smiled, tucking a lock of hair behind her ear.

"I've been waiting for you, Roxas."


	4. Xion

Xion found herself walking down the Hallway of Bedrooms. This was the first thing that was odd, considering The World that Never Was had been destroyed by darkness a couple of times over by now. The second odd thing was that she had just been running her hand down the walls like a child. Xion had never done that. But weird, ghost-memories of Kairi's supplied her with the filling information. Sometimes, Sora's and Kairi's memories still affected her like that.

So, what was she doing _here_? Wherever here was, considering unless Master Yen Sid had sent her back in time, there was no way she was actually at The World that Never Was. It must just be some part of her Mark of Mastery Exam and she'd have to beat out whatever puzzle came at her.

She made her way to the Grey Area. It was empty, save for two people. And they were quite possibly the last two people she wanted to see.

Saix and Xemnas.

She could only fathom as to why Xemnas was there. Xemnas never came to the Grey Area. Xion would actually be surprised if Xemnas even slept.

Except, Xemnas shouldn't exist right now. Neither should Saix.

This was all in her head. And she didn't like it one bit.


	5. Ven

Ven was almost in tears. He was looking up at the Land of Departure. The place he'd begun to call home over the years. Of course, that was over a decade ago. Sleeping for that long really skewed his sense of time. But, the sad thing was, he knew he wasn't really here. Aqua had turned the Land of Departure into Castle Oblivion to protect him.

Master Yen Sid must have pulled this out of his memories. Or sent him there. This was part of his exam. It wasn't like the exam that Aqua and Terra had had. But maybe Master Yen Sid chose to do things so differently so there wouldn't be the option of Xehanort interfering. Ven hoped he didn't interfere.

Ven couldn't think of what he was supposed to be doing, so he started heading into the building. Maybe it would become clear then.

He shouldn't have been surprised that everything looked the same. Or, at least, looked exactly like he remembered it. Because it did.

He found himself in the room where Aqua and Terra had taken their exams. A dark figure was standing over by the chair that Xehanort had sat in. Ven had a sinking feeling in the pit of his stomach.

But he approached the figure anyway.


	6. Terra

Hollow Bastion. What was Terra doing there? He couldn't remember being transported, but he certainly wasn't in Traverse Town anymore. He recognized Hollow Bastion easily. He looked over at the Castle and grimaced. He was the reason that place was in ruins. He looked away and started walking through the city. He had to figure out why he was here. Surely Master Yen Sid had a reason for sending him here, alone.

Everything around him shifted and it was like he'd gone back fifteen years. Hollow Bastion was still Radiant Garden. Everything shimmered and almost sparkled.

Terra was obviously _not_ in Radiant Garden. This was Yen Sid's magic.

Except, was that Xehanort?

No! He couldn't be interfering!  
"Not again," Terra growled.

Xehanort turned and Terra reasoned that Xehanort couldn't be interfering. Xehanort didn't look like that anymore. The Remnants had always been younger looking. This was Old Master Xehanort. Like he had looked the night he'd possessed Terra.

And Terra was going to need to fight him.


	7. Kairi Tested

Kairi knew something was wrong the moment she approached Sora and Riku. Something about their faces was off. She had a bad feeling about this whole thing.

"Hey guys," Kairi said, figuring she should still say something.

"We've been waiting for you," Sora said.

"So we can test you and you can prove that you have earned this right," Riku said.

"Or prove that you are not ready when you fail," Sora said.

It broke Kairi's heart that this version of Sora thought she might fail.

She pulled out her Keyblade. "Well," she said. "Let's do this."

Shadowy forms stepped out of Sora and Riku. They were already holding blades. The other Sora and Riku disappeared.

"You will fight us at our worst!"

Kairi wasn't even sure which one of them said that. It might have been both. She dropped into a fighting stance.

Shadow Sora attacked her first. It was very predictable, how he fought. For even though this wasn't Sora, he fought like Sora.

Riku came out of nowhere. His stab with his blade hurt! She hadn't had time to block it. Groaning, she readjusted so she could fight both of them. This was not something she'd ever done. Never before had she fought the two of them. Sure, she'd fought two enemies before… but not Sora and Riku who were actually fighting and not just sparring. She'd never actually fought one of them when they were actually fighting and not just sparring.

She tried to use a light attack, but found she had no magic in her. This must be part of the test. She would have to rely on her Keyblade alone.

And hope she wouldn't need to Cure.


	8. Roxas Tested

The scenery shifted. Roxas and Xion were no longer standing outside of the ice cream shop. Now, they were standing at the base of the Clock Tower. The town had gone eerily quiet. It always was somewhat quiet, but now even more so.

Roxas realized now that he wasn't _actually_ in Twilight Town. This was all just a simulation. His face scrunched up in anger, almost involuntarily. The amount of times he'd been put in _this_ town and it wasn't even _real…_

He didn't have much more time to continue that train of thought. Xion had summoned her Keyblade. She was also aiming it at him.

This wasn't Xion.

The real Xion had only done that twice. Once out of desperation, and the second time because she'd been Rewritten to do it.

Now she was fixed.

This wasn't Xion.

'Xion' raised her arms to her sides. Armor appeared out of nowhere. It circled her before encasing her in it. It was like the armor she'd worn when they'd Rewritten her.

Roxas felt like he'd been punched in the stomach.

With robotic-like movements, 'Xion' aimed to attack.

Roxas blocked, his Keyblade coming to his hands naturally. At least that wasn't different.

This was all part of the exam, he told himself. Master Yen Sid was probably making them fight their worst fears or something. It would stand to reason, would it not?

"Fight me, Roxas!" 'Xion' screamed.

"What does it look like I'm doing?" Roxas asked, though his voice broke.

He aimed an attack, but she blocked it. He aimed another and she blocked that. She struck when he was open. He swore.

"I don't suppose I'm going to be able to talk you out of this, am I?" Roxas asked, half to himself. "You're not even real!"

She laughed. It was a terrible laugh. "Right now," she said. "I am real. And you best believe it!"


	9. Xion Tested

Xion looked between Xemnas and Saix.

"Well, I'm not going to play around," she said, summoning her Keyblade. "Let's just get this over with."

"So the puppet wants to play," Saix said, summoning his claymore.

Xemnas said nothing. He merely snorted and his ethereal blades appeared.

Xion wasn't sure who to go after first. Her brain was telling her (loudly) that the odds were anything but in her favor. She attacked Saix first, because he left an opening. He groaned and aimed with his claymore. Xion deftly dodged out of the way.

Xemnas was waiting for her. Xion's blade clashed with his and she hurriedly spun out of the way before Saix could get her while her back was wide open.

"I don't see how this is playing," Xion grunted.

Neither of them said anything.

Xion knew that just slashing around with her Keyblade wasn't going to work forever. So she started casting magic. The Fira leapt from her Keyblade easily, catching Saix off-guard. She cast Thundaga next and it crackled between the two of them. Xemnas recovered first and charged at her. It was a motion that seemed odd, coming from the man who never walked two steps but preferred to simply glide across the ground. Xion parried his blows with only minor difficulty. She rolled out of the way as soon as she could and shot a Blizzara at Saix.

"What I could really use," she muttered to herself. "Is some backup."

But she knew in her heart that this was her Mark of Mastery exam, so she was probably expected to do it all by herself.


	10. Ven Tested

The figure looked somewhat like Vanitas—but if Vanitas' face had been meshed with Ven's own. Still had the dark hair and yellow eyes though.

"So," the boy said. "You're finally here to fight me."

Ven eyed him warily. "Who are you?"

"The darker version of you, of course!" the boy said, as if it was obvious. "I'm your deep dark secrets, fears, and regrets. All bottled up into one. And you're supposed to fight me."

Ven didn't think he had any secrets, or any regrets. His biggest fear was losing Terra and Aqua again. He summoned his Keyblade and settled into a fighting stance.

"Okay then," he said. "If you insist."

The other boy looked surprised that Ven had accepted so easily. He looked a little deflated, as if he'd been prepared (and had wanted to) goad Ven into fighting. Well, Ven wasn't going to give him that satisfaction.

Nevertheless, the boy stood and summoned his own blade. It was a Keyblade as well, but cracked and marred looking. Clearly his heart wasn't in that great of state.

Was that the dark part of Ven's own heart? He thought that had gone away with Vanitas' destruction.

"Surprised I exist?" the boy said.

Ven looked at him, confused.

"I know your thoughts," the boy answered.

Ven frowned. "Then you should also know that I don't have too many secrets and regrets."

"But your fear is _amazing_ ," the boy said. "And your worries that you might have darkness in your heart again are pretty great too."

Ven charged at him, not wanting to listen to any more.

"Enough," he said. "Even if I do have darkness in my heart again, I'm not going to listen to it!"


	11. Terra Tested

The battle was a lot like any of the other battles Terra had fought with Xehanort. Xehanort put forth what looked like as little effort as possible, but still managed to block Terra's every strike. Xehanort threw none of his own strikes, however.

"Why are you always interfering!?" Terra growled as Xehanort blocked a strike to his face with nothing but his arm. "Why can't I just take my exam in peace?"

"You're such a disappointment, Terra," Xehanort tsked. "You were already a master."

"By _your_ choice," Terra said. "You just handed it to me because you knew it would make me like you. I'm _earning_ this one! And you're in the way!"

"How do you know I'm interfering? What if I'm just a part of your heart?"

"No!" Terra screamed. "That could never be! I got rid of you! I blasted you out with light!"

Xehanort said nothing. Terra growled and kept fighting. Slash. Bash. Strike. But nothing actually went through. Something about Xehanort was too strong. Something was preventing Terra from hitting him.

Terra took a step back and lowered his blade by a fraction of an inch.

"Are you going to fight back?" he asked, wishing he wasn't so breathless.

"Why do I need to?" Xehanort replied. "You will only tire yourself out and I will win."

Terra shook his head. "We've played this game," he said. "The waiting game. And I will outlast you."

"I am a patient man," Xehanort said.

"No you're not," Terra said. "That's why you have so many different plans in place. You can't stand to lose!"

"You misheard me, Terra," Xehanort said. "I said I was patient, not that I was sold on any one path to immortality."

Terra growled.


	12. Yuffie

Yuffie chucked her shuriken into the fray. That was really all she felt she could do. She wasn't too inclined to get much closer. Axel had similar ideas. Though Axel kept throwing around fire as well. Yuffie steered just as clear of that as she did the Remnant's lasers.

Aerith, Namine, and Yen Sid had gone somewhere else with all the napping Keyblade Wielders. Well, they weren't actually napping. They were just somewhere in their own hearts taking another portion of their exam. Or something.

Yuffie was here though, where the real battling was. She was glad she had a Heal materia, considering Aerith wasn't around. And Rinoa, while just as powerful magically, wasn't as good at keeping everyone healed.

"This is certainly not what I was expecting when I came to watch this," Leon said, falling into place alongside of her. Yuffie jumped up and caught her shuriken.

"Right?" she asked.

She looked over at Riku and Sora, who were fiercely battling the Remnant at the moment. They almost seemed to content to hog all of the battle.

"I wonder if they get tired of fighting him," she mused. "Because _I'm_ tired of fighting him."

"I wouldn't know," Leon said. He ran off. She hadn't expected him to stay.

Cid yelled and charged at the Remnant with his spear.


	13. Kairi's Fears

Kairi really wished that she could cure. But the magic would not come to her. It was just her and her blade. And while she had the strength to keep doing it initially, the constant battling off the shadowy forms of Sora and Riku was making her weary.

If that all wasn't enough, Shadow Sora and Shadow Riku started throwing near-constant taunts. It was all she could do to block them out.

"You should have never showed up to the Islands! You don't belong!"

"You are not worthy of the Keyblade, it was passed to you by sheer accident."

"You are a waste of a Keyblade Wielder!"

"You were never all that special."

"You should have just stayed a pretty little princess."

"Princesses don't fight, so why are you trying so hard?"

"Just give up already!"

"I never should have rescued you."

One after another, the taunts bled into her head. She could hardly tell which one of them said what. But it didn't really matter, the words hurt either way.

" _Shut up!_ " she roared. She looked at Shadow Sora. "Let us not forget that it was me that saved you from being a Heartless." A look to Riku and she continued: "And it was me that brought the three of us together again when you were too mopey to see it."

Her words had no effect. The two shadow forms kept attacking.

Shadow Riku came up behind her and knocked her off balance. She fell to her knees. Her Keyblade skidded away several feet before disappearing. She didn't have the energy to summon it back to her.

Shadow Sora came up to her and raised his blade to strike. Kairi held her arms up over her head to block the blow.

Right before the blow hit, her Keyblade reappeared in her hands. Shadow Sora's Keyblade clashed against hers.

 _Get up!_ A voice inside her head told her. _You can do this._

She didn't recognize the voice. It wasn't Namine, or Sora, or anyone really. Perhaps it was just herself.

She listened to the voice.


	14. Leon's Fears

Leon was mostly at a loss for what to do. He watched Sora and Riku go up against the Xehanort Remnant and pretty much never leave his personal space unless they were thrown backwards by a particularly strong attack. Projectile weapons from Yuffie and Axel kept flying into the fray. Rinoa sent powerful blast of magic after powerful blast of magic. Cid attacked once or twice with his spear.

Leon got in there once or twice. But it was hard to with Sora and Riku right up there. They seemed to know what they were doing, though Leon wouldn't go so far as to say they had a handle on things. It would take all of them to get rid of the Remnant. The only question was, what was the best way to do that?

Things got a little bit better once Aqua rejoined the battle. Yen Sid took the sleeping Keyblade Wielders away, probably somewhere safe. Unfortunately, he took Aerith with them. Which meant Rinoa became the healer. Leon made a mental note to keep himself healed. He wouldn't want Rinoa focusing all of her efforts on him when there were other people to be attended to.

When Riku disappeared and Sora started darting around wielding two Keyblades, Leon noticed Aqua's Keyblade grow large with light. Cid called out that he was going to use a Summon. Leon prepared his own Blasting Zone. Hit Xehanort with everything all at once. Rinoa cast Flare, for good measure.

That… should have done it.

Pain tore through Leon. He sunk to the ground on his knees. His breath came in short gasps.

 _While the witch has so much distracting power, I cannot reach her. You, however, will make a fine vessel. Strong in stature, experience-hardened body… Yes. This will do._

It was like the Remnant was speaking inside of Leon's head. The Remnant _was_ speaking inside of Leon's head.

"Squall?" came Rinoa's voice.

Leon began to panic as his body moved against his will. His head snapped upwards and he focused on Rinoa. But it was not good focus. It was the determined focus he'd had when facing Ultimecia. He raised his gunblade to strike Rinoa…


	15. Roxas' Fears

Roxas continued to fight the fake Xion. Their blades clashed against each other repeatedly. Roxas tried to block all the grim thoughts of familiarity out of his head. Yen Sid sure knew how to work magic. If Roxas remembered this when he got out, he would have a terse word or two with Yen Sid.

Or maybe he wouldn't. Because this was supposed to be a trial to show he'd mastered the Keyblade. Wielding a Keyblade wasn't just wielding the Keyblade, it was also all the knowledge and discipline that went with it.

Familiar footsteps joined the battlefield. Roxas blocked the attack from 'Xion' and turned to look so he could confirm who it was.

Axel.

Axel summoned his chakrams to attack. Roxas braced himself, not knowing who Axel was going to attack. None of this was real, so there was no telling.

Axel attacked 'Xion'.

Roxas' initial thought was to tell Axel to stop. He hated watching his friends fight so. But 'Xion' wasn't real. Axel probably wasn't either. The odds of him making it into Roxas' Mark of Mastery exam were so slim.

Then again, Axel had made it into other places he shouldn't have…

'Xion' slumped to the ground. With a shimmer, her form disappeared.

"Uh, thanks," Roxas said.

"Don't think we're done here," Axel said, raising his chakrams again.

Roxas sighed and raised his Keyblade again. He resigned himself to this fate. All this fighting, all this testing. If he'd fought Xion, of course he'd also have to fight Axel.

Who was next? All the members of the Organization? Sora?

He shook his head, he shouldn't think of such things, lest he jinx them.

He and 'Axel' became surrounded by flames. Typical.

"Do you ever try anything else?" Roxas muttered.

His response was to send two flaming chakrams at Roxas.

"Besides that, too," Roxas said, blocking them. One of them clattered to the ground, the flames fizzling out. The other one went careening back to 'Axel.' It made contact with his face with a satisfying crunch.


	16. Xion's Fears

To Xion's immense surprise, a chakram flew by her ear, and hit Saix in the face. Another Keyblade came whirling through the air right after to hit Xemnas. Xion used her opponent's temporary distraction to look at the direction the weapons had come from.

Roxas and Axel stood at the entrance to the Grey Area, smirks on their faces.

"Yo," Axel said. "We're here to help."

Xion wasn't sure how exactly this fit into _her_ Mark of Mastery, but she wasn't going to turn down the help. She turned her attention back to the task at hand. Saix was suffering worse, so she focused her efforts on him.

Roxas and Axel charged fully into the battle. What was once two-against-one was now three-against-two. The addition of Roxas and Axel tipped the scales in her favor. The three of them were also skilled at fighting alongside each other, and would use each other's moves to their advantage. Saix and Xemnas were not used to fighting anything but solo. They gave each other a wide berth to compensate. While this was generally effective, it did cause them to be slower at points. Axel, Roxas, and Xion were quick.

Before long, the opponents had been beat.

Xion looked at Roxas and Axel, but the words of thanks died on her lips with the grim faces that stared back at her.

"You fought what you thought you feared," Roxas said.

"Now to fight what you _actually_ fear," Axel said.

The two of them came at her.

Xion was glad she had not banished her blade. The extra ten seconds was the difference between a good block, and no block at all. She jumped back, giving herself some breathing room.

 _Of course_ , she thought to herself. She looked between them sadly. _Of course._ Getting help with her Mark of Mastery wouldn't prove anything. But the illusion of false hope would lead her into a false sense of security, making the pain of Roxas and Axel turning on her all the more worse.

Because she did fear fighting them. Very much.


	17. Ven's Fears

The more Ven fought this dark version of himself, the more his worries about the dark parts of his own heart and fears of losing everything he had regained showed back up. He had seen what darkness could do to Terra. And he had just gotten Terra and Aqua back. He wasn't going to lose them again. They were going to all become Keyblade Masters.

"Hey!" the darker him spat. "Quit it with those happy thoughts. Go back to the part where you're going to lose your friends."

Ven parried an attack and rolled out of the way. "But I'm not though," he said simply. "As much as I might fear that I'm going to lose them. I can't let that fear control me."

"Damn, you got over that one fast," the darker him swore. "New tactic. The shattered portion of your heart. That had healed and you shattered once more when you fought Vanitas…"

As he spoke, he attacked Ven. Ven blocked the cracked Keyblade with his own. "Yeah?" Ven answered. "What about it?"

"Do you really think Sora fixed it all the way? The kid had his own problems."

"I feel pretty all right," Ven said. He was honestly confused as to why they were talking about this. Because, while it seemed his other could know all of Ven's thoughts, it did not work the other way around.

"But will you after this battle?"

Ven pushed backwards and jumped back until he was practically across the room. They were no longer in his own fabricated room. They were in the sparring hall, and had been for a while. Weird magic at work there.

Ven stared the darker him down, trying to figure out what he was playing at. Was he seriously suggesting that in fighting him, Ven would destroy his heart like had happened when he'd fought Vanitas? No, surely not. Surely that was a ploy of self-defense. Master Yen Sid wouldn't make Ven's Mark destroy his heart. It was supposed to test it, not defeat it altogether.

Ven had stopped too long to think. When he wasn't prepared, his darker self threw a blast of darkness and it hit Ven square in the chest. Ven doubled over in pain.


	18. Terra's Fears

Fighting Xehanort was absolutely infuriating. Terra was so angry. After everything he had worked for, Xehanort was still here and trying to mess things up.

Talking to Xehanort had led to nothing, so they were fighting again. More like Terra tried to hit Xehanort and Xehanort blocked every blow with ease. That was more infuriating.

Xehanort was convinced that he could just stand there and wear Terra out. The good news was that Terra had found strength somewhere and did not feel tired or worn out in the slightest. Unfortunately, Xehanort showed no signs of being tired either.

The more they fought, the more it struck Terra odd at how familiar this was. Initially, he had chalked the familiarity up to the amount of times he had fought Xehanort in the past. The man had one very particular fighting style that worked for him. It did not surprise Terra that he wouldn't want to change his game when there was really no need to.

However, this was almost _too_ familiar. Like, it played out like his nightmares played out. The nightmares where Xehanort visited Terra in his sleep and Terra was forced to fight Xehanort until he woke up.

Was this a nightmare? Did Xehanort's words to him only sound so believable because Terra had shared a heart with Xehanort for so long? Was any of this really happening?

But this was his Mark of Mastery exam…

Was he fighting his worst fear?

As that realization crossed Terra's mind, the floor beneath them crumbled. Xehanort disappeared in a cloud of dark smoke. Terra began to fall.

He was falling among what looked like shards of glass. He oriented himself so he could look down and see what he was falling to. But it was a dark abyss below.

He raised his Keyblade and pointed up. He tried to create a door or something with which to leave by.

Light flew out of his Keyblade and opened a door.

Terra reached for it. His hand became bathed with light. He had won.


	19. Kairi Triumphant

Kairi stood between the shadowy forms of Sora and Riku, her blade bared and her jaw set. She wasn't going to give up. She wasn't going to give in. It didn't matter what they said, because they were lying. She was worth something. The Keyblade was rightfully hers. Aqua had passed it to her—unaware, perhaps, but not by mistake. Kairi was supposed to have the Keyblade. And she was going to put it to good use.

On top of that, she was a Princess of Heart. She was born with that, with all of that light, and nothing could take that away from her. She was a princess, and she was working her hardest to become a princess who fights.

Light bubbled up inside of her. It was not a new feeling, as she had channeled light plenty of times in the past. It was second-nature to her. She could command the light better than Riku could command the darkness or Axel could command fire. It was her innate power, something she had more than an affinity towards. It was a part of her.

This was the first time she'd felt it since starting this whole ordeal, however. But she wasn't going to look the gift sideways. She welcomed the light within her and sent the energy out in an attack at the shadowy forms. Like all things made out of darkness, the light burned and scorched at them until they faded away. There wasn't any screaming or cursing. Just a hissing noise as they disappeared. Good riddance.

As the light channeled through her, Kairi felt her own energy returning. Salvation. Light that cures as well as damages. Because Light could do that.

The scenery returned to normal. Destiny Islands looked like it should. A breeze, even, brushed against her cheeks. But it was still too quiet. This still wasn't the real Destiny Islands, but a fabrication in her head.

Kairi made her way over to the beach, nonetheless. She stared off into the beautiful ocean and smiled. She felt accomplished. She hadn't let her worst fears get the better of her. She was a Princess of Heart and a Keyblade Wielder. She was the Princess who Fights. There really would be no more leaving her behind. She had earned this.

The quiet waves lapped up against her feet. It was still too quiet.

She supposed now all that she had to do… was wake up.


	20. Roxas Triumphant

Roxas felt like he had fought Axel too many times. It hurt that his subconscious made him do it. Or whatever it was that this was, Roxas wasn't sure of 'subconscious' was the right word.

He wasn't losing, but he wasn't necessarily winning either. The reason why he'd been able to beat Xion earlier was because of Axel's help. He was beginning to think they were all evenly matched otherwise. Which meant he would have to find some upper hand somewhere. He wasn't sure what losing this fight meant, but he didn't really want to find out either. At worst, he supposed, he wouldn't make Master because of some arbitrary requirement he'd failed to meet. Though, perhaps the worst thing that would happen was that he would die.

Roxas had never really feared death. Believing, for the first year of his life, that he would just fade to nothingness upon his destruction hadn't really left him any room for that. The goal was not to get killed.

The goal was the same now, but for different reasons. Now, Roxas has a lot to leave behind.

 _Here, let me lend you some power…_

Roxas recognized that voice: it was Sora.

 _How?_ He asked.

He shouldn't have bothered, as soon as he thought the word, his left hand tingled and a second Keyblade appeared in his hands. Oathkeeper. Sora's blade. He brandished both blades and looked at the Axel in his subconscious.

"It's on, now," he said with a grin.

The fight was suddenly a lot easier with the second blade. Roxas liked the feel of the dual blades in his hands. He felt more complete with them. Even though in the real world, it was virtually impossible to dual wield all the time, because other people needed their blades too. However, now, Roxas wasn't going to shun the help offered to him.

Beating Axel became possible. It was as if Roxas had Sora's strength in addition to Sora's blade. Roxas hoped he wasn't _actually_ draining something from Sora. That could be bad. Though, Sora was just watching over all of them, right?

Axel disappeared. Roxas wiped sweat off of his brow.

Then another figure appeared.

"Oh, come _on_ ," Roxas groaned.

Except, it was Sora. Sora approached Roxas with his hands out in a peaceful gesture.

"I'm here to congratulate you," Sora said, grinning his big grin. "You make a good other, but it's good to see you be your own person."

Roxas lifted Oathkeeper. "You helped."

Sora shrugged. "That power was in you the whole time, I just lent you a blade is all."

Roxas smiled. "Thanks."

Sora offered out his hand to shake. Roxas took it and they shook hands.

"Now you just have to wake up."


	21. Xion Triumphant

Fighting Roxas and Axel was actually awful. Xion knew all of their signature moves, which was good. Conversely, they knew all of her signature moves, which was bad. There would also be no combos or heavy-hitting attacks like that because the two of them were fighting on the opposite side as her. Thankfully, they hadn't started using their own combos.

Maybe her heart, or this illusion, had decided not to do that to her because it was too unfair. That was unlikely. It was more likely that her heart or the illusion—whichever it was that was controlling this—couldn't supply the information necessary for a combo between Axel and Roxas. Xion was grateful, even if for only that fact.

Roxas was quick and brutish. He was in her face with his own shadowy Keyblade. Despite the shadowy Keyblade, he still threw light about like it was second nature. Xion had her own light to use, but seemingly not as much as Roxas.

Axel meanwhile, was just as quick. He wasn't in her face, but the seemingly never-ending barrage of flaming chakrams was.

Flashbacks of holding a Keyblade to Roxas' face, of Axel dragging her back to The World that Never Was after a brutal fight in front of the mansion, of fighting Axel in Twilight Town proper while Roxas begged them to stop, of fighting Roxas on top the Clock Tower after she'd been rewritten with more of Sora's memories; all of those flooded into the forefront of her brain.

"No more!" she screamed, banishing her Keyblade. "I am no longer defined by those! And you!" she looked between Roxas and Axel. "Are not going to continue to fight me like this in the middle of my heart. You are my friends, and nothing is going to come between us anymore. Our friendship held us together as best it could when we were in the Organization. It's stronger now, and it will hold us together. I would rather not be a Master than fight you two!"

To her immense surprise, Roxas dropped his Keyblade and Axel dropped his chakrams. The Keyblade made clanging sounds on the floor before it disappeared. The chakrams did not even make it as far as the floor.

"I understand, Xion," Roxas said with a smile.

"Good," Axel said. "I'm tired of the icky jobs."

Then they, too, disappeared.

Xion turned around. She was no longer standing in the Grey Area. Now, she was standing on a stained glass platform that symbolized her heart. There were parts of it that looked more digitally made than others, but it did not look incomplete in the slightest.

There was a tingle of energy in her left hand. Her Keyblade had resummoned itself. She held it up to view and noticed that it was different. Now, it was pink and purple in color.

"I did it," Xion said, closing her eyes in relief.


	22. Aerith

Aerith wasn't terribly fond of this current arrangement. It seemed like Master Yen Sid was so caught up in his own head that he didn't entirely realize what was going on in front of him. Aerith didn't like that so many of her friends were helplessly asleep in front of her. Which was why she had made it her goal to ensure their safety.

She just found it hard to believe that this was the best way. But every test seemed different. And Aerith was sure she would be told that it was matters for Keyblade Wielders only. That was one thing Aerith could never hope to do—nor did she want the ability. She was happy being who she was.

Namine was there, too, watching everything. Well, she was drawing. But Aerith knew enough about Namine's powers to know that Namine probably had a better idea of what was going on inside their hearts than anyone else.

Aerith wondered how the others were doing back in Traverse Town. The Xehanort Remnant sure picked one heck of a time to show up. He had probably planned it. Thankfully, they had managed to take the sleeping ones out from under his nose. His target was probably Sora anyway. Sora and Riku had fought that man so much…

Namine's pencil stopped unexpectedly. Aerith looked up to see Namine wince. Then she turned the page and kept drawing.

Aerith's thoughts drifted to Zack and how he was missing out on the action. He was back in Radiant Garden. Aerith couldn't help but think of his words regarding Xehanort Remnants. He'd be so disappointed to find that he wasn't going to fight this one either.

Suddenly, there was a tug on Aerith's heart. Something was wrong. Someone was hurt. Someone needed her help.

Back in Traverse Town.

Aerith stood up, aware that Namine's eyes followed her warily. She approached Master Yen Sid, her face and resolve set.

"I need to go back to Traverse Town," she said. "I am needed."

Aerith hated the way Master Yen Sid looked at her. Like she wasn't worth anything because she wasn't a Keyblade Wielder.

"Well?" Aerith continued, frowning now. People's _lives_ were at stake. "You have means to send me there, do you not? You got us all here?"

Still, the man said nothing. It made Aerith furious.

"Here," came Namine's voice from where she was sitting on the floor.

Aerith turned, ensuring that she softened up her face. Namine had seen too many hard faces in her short life.

Namine was holding out a star shard to Aerith. Aerith reached out hesitantly as she took it.

"Thank you. I will make sure this gets back to you."

Namine nodded. "No worries. It won't be long before we see each other again."

The tug on Aerith's heart grew stronger. "I need to go now."

Namine gestured that she should go.

Aerith activated the star shard, thinking very vividly about Traverse Town and the battle that was no doubt reaching its crux there.


	23. Ven Triumphant

The darkness crackled around Ven, hurting him, making him wince. Before he could consciously understand what was going on, his body began throwing up its own defense mechanisms. Light flashed out of Ven's body, his own personal self-defense against anything that came to attack him.

The darker version of him screamed.

"Why must you do this to me?" he screeched. "I am a part of you."

"There is no more darkness in my heart," Ven argued.

"There is darkness in everyone's hearts. It grows out of the light, breeding hatred and dissent."

"Well," Ven said. "I'm not going to let that happen."

He started directing the light attacks, trying to make them be the most effective. He wasn't necessarily trying to cause harm, but he was acting out of self-defense and a little bit of anger at that point.

The dark being was becoming less dark. It grew purple, then blue, then green, then gold, then white. As the colors shifted, the screams died down, as if it were giving up. But Ven could see his face. It was serene—accepting.

Ven took a couple of hesitant steps toward the figure. He reached out a hand to maybe perhaps help the other being, when there was a flash and Ven was no longer facing that figure. He wasn't even in that hall in the Land of Departure anymore.

He was on a heart station. He looked down at the ground, trying to make out what was on the stained glass below him. It was a younger version of himself, he thought. Standing on either side of him was Aqua and Terra.

The ground shattered beneath him and he fell. He landed on yet another stained glass platform, but this one was broken in half.

"I've been here before," Ven whispered. "This is what my heart looked like after Xehanort…"

A heart, that Ven recognized to be Sora's heart, floated down. When it came in contact with the stained glass, there was a flash of bright white light. When Ven could see again, the heart station had Sora and Ven both in the glass. Then Sora faded and the figure was replaced by portraits of all of Ven's friends.

Ven's heart was complete again.

Ven felt a sense of inner peace that was exactly like what the look on the previously dark figure had been. It was calming serenity.

Ven put a hand over his chest and felt the steady beating of his own heart. He smiled.

"I'm ready to go now," he whispered.


	24. Terra Triumphant

**Author's Note:** Wow! It's the last chapter already! Everyone's passed their Mark of Mastery! Leon comes out okay in the end and Xehanort unfortunately lives to fight another day. But Terra's heart is free of Xehanort's reign, so that is good. Check out _Remnants_ if you haven't. Enjoy!

* * *

Terra walked through the door and found himself standing in a grassy area with stone benches. On one of those benches, sat Master Eraqus.

"Still dreaming then," he said. "Master Eraqus isn't around anymore."

He still walked up to Master Eraqus, banishing his Keyblade.

"Hey," Terra said. He wasn't sure what to say, really. He and Master Eraqus had had a precious couple of conversations while residing in Terra's heart. This may very well be another one of them.

"Hello, Terra," Master Eraqus said. "You have earned the title of Keyblade Master."

The smile started small on Terra's lips, then it grew larger and larger. "Thanks, Master Eraqus."

"But you're still afraid of something, aren't you?" Master Eraqus asked.

Terra's hand hovered over his heart. "Yeah, I'm still worried about Xehanort."

Master Eraqus smiled softly. "You needn't be. He is very much gone from your heart."

Terra let out a breath he didn't know he'd been holding. "But he's not gone from everywhere else."

"So what should you do now?" Master Eraqus asked.

"Work to get rid of Xehanort, once and for all," Terra replied automatically. "But how do I do that?"

"You already have an idea of what it is you need to do," Master Eraqus answered. "You just need to do it."

"Destroy all the remnants of Xehanort's heart," Terra said with a sigh. "I wish there was an easier way."

"If there was an easier way, Xehanort would already be long gone. But he laid the seeds for this plan long ago."

"Did you know?" Terra asked.

"I confess I never suspected. I trusted him." Master Eraqus frowned sadly. "My trust was misplaced."

"Any more advice for me?" Terra asked.

Master Eraqus shook his head. "You have come a long way Terra. I do not have any more advice for you."

Terra half-expected that to be the answer. He smiled at Master Eraqus again and stood up. The grassy area faded and Terra found himself standing on a piece of plain white glass.

It was his heart. It was a fresh slate, too.

"I'm free of Xehanort's presence in my heart," Terra said. "And I intend to keep it that way."

Warmth filled him. It was time to act on his plans now.


End file.
